Area resident reaches 100
Rita Loretta Niedbalski, a long-time Dunkirk and Fredonia resident, turned 100 years old on Thursday, Feb. 20. She was born on February 20, 1925, in Dunkirk to Frank and Mary (Umataoski) Niedbalski, and she had three older siblings (Bill, Anna, and Agatha) and tons of cousins on her dad’s side of the family tree — including Mary, Stephen, Genevieve, Theodora, Leonard, Joseph, Sylvester, and Clemens Niedbalski. After finishing school, she worked for Cease’s Commissary Restaurant in Dunkirk for many years, and she spent the past few years before retirement working for the Fredonia Place community. She is known to her family for her selflessness, strength, and cheesy jokes. “She always loved to play pinochle with her friends, sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews, and we have the best memories with her of shopping trips, birthday cupcakes, family picnics, and funny bits of ‘road rage,’” the family noted. “Rita is a wonderful aunt and is loved dearly by her niece and nephew, Thomas and Janice (Zielinski) Kuznicki of Blasdell, her great-nieces, Lisa (Kuznicki) Gates of Charlotte and Holly (Kuznicki) Schoenborn of Buffalo, as well as her great-grand nieces and nephews — Jamie, Meagan, Caitlin, Lila, Laci, Nathaniel, and Mathias — send all of their love, too. Happy Birthday, Aunt Rita!”